Dragonball z: shadow of Arcterilus
by eleganos
Summary: Kuriza always thought his father would be there to protect him, he was wrong.
1. episode one: the prologue

"= change in perspective

Kuriza looked out of the window into the vastness of space, knowing that should the window somehow

crack everybody on the ship would die, that is, everybody but him. His father had told him a long time ago

about their species ability to breath in space, his father had always said that this was one of the reasons

that they were superior to all other species in this galaxy. He shrugged the thought off, he knew it was

pointless to think of such things, his father had taught him that things just were, and questioning the

natural order of the world wouldn't change anything. He looked out of the window and found himself staring

at the planet the ship was quickly approaching, it was the planet Arcterilus, it was his home. The planet

looked like an azure colored gem in space, pure as the blue sky. The planet was locked in perpetual winter

and was almost devoid of the standard elements that composed a planet, it didn't matter a thing to him, all

that mattered was that he was finally arriving to the place of his birth. He hadn't been to the planet since he

was born and he was finally returning there, and the best part was that he was going there for his

recognition ceremony. A sacred tradition among his people that a child would undergo if their parent(s) felt

that the child was ready for the real world, until the ceremony, only family and extremely close friends were

allowed to know of his existence, but now finally the world would be allowed to know of his existence.

Kuriza soon realized how hungry he was and went to the built in diner. he was appalled to find that none of

the food in any of the dinners were up to snuff to his expectations, or rather his fathers expectations. Kuriza

never understood why his father forbade him to eat low-class food, to Kuriza food was food, but he long

since understood that it's best just not to question his father, he learned that a long time ago, specifically

during a training session with his father: Father, said Kuriza, why do i have to learn to fight, I already have

everything i will ever want and as long as you are alive nobody would dare to attack me, and even then

they would have to know of my existence. His father showed a look of annoyance on his face, as if he had

never even thought a child of his could think of such a thing. You clearly have no idea of your place in the

future, said his father. You are inheriting a legacy that has only bred warriors of the highest caliber yet you

treat this as if you will never need to get into a fight. Trust me, one day you will need to fight someone, but

for now you must train for that day, I hope this is the last I hear of this otherwise I might find myself in need

of my brothers help, for if I fail to train you then he will not.; Kuriza remembered that day well, he had been

badly injured by one of his fathers death balls and had spent the rest of the week in a medical bay. At that

moment his shoulder connected with that of a cloaked figure, causing the contents of the food tray that he

was carrying to spill. Hey watch it, the cloaked figure said in a tone that oddly enough reminded Kuriza of his

father when he got annoyed at Kuriza. When Kuriza failed to answer the figure grabbed him do you have

any idea of how expensive that was, it was a Malchiorian mahogany cider, that stuff ain't cheap, now I hope

you have the cash to get me another otherwise were going to have a big problem, and just in case you

think i'm not afraid to harm a child i'll have you know that I am held in high esteem by-Kuriza didn't care

who he was, but did care that he thought he could speak to him like that. How dare you, said Kuriza, quite

angry at the figure, you are beneath me, I am the son of lord Frieza, although i'm not supposed to be telling

you of this, however today is the day of my ceremony of recognition, which means that i'm in a very good

mood so if you give me what remains of the cider then i promise that my father will not destroy you." The

figure stood silent, shocked that he had run into someone that he had been looking for for about a week

now. Of course Kuriza didn't know this at all, he simply presumed he was shocked because he was the son

of the most powerful warrior in the galaxy. Kuriza listen to me, said the figure you must not_ before the

figure could finish the sentence the ship's intercom activated, informing them to get back to their seats. The

cloaked figure sighed, when he found that Kuriza was nowhere to be seen, clearly wanting to arrive at the

planet more than defending his honor. Hopefully by the time he found Kuriza it would not be too late. 10

minutes later:" Kuriza was completely ecstatic, he was on the surface of the planet of his birth, and he knew

that today his life would change forever, he would not be disappointing. Kuriza was about to enter the

transport to the royal palace when he was stopped by three guards, the guard in the middle appeared to

be in charge. Could you please come with us, said the lead guard. I'm sorry but i do not have time for you, if

their is something important that must be discussed with me then surely you could wait until tomorrow,

Kuriza replied. I'm afraid that you do not have a choice in the matter, now come with us or we will use force.

Kuriza ignored him and started to walk away when he suddenly felt all the pain receptors in his body go off,

and then he found himself on the ground unconscious. All right let's take him away said the lead guard ,

they only moved him 5 centimeters when the cloaked figure interrupted them. "Were are you taking him,said

the figure, none of your business they replied. Oh but you see it is my business he replied, taking off the

cloak. All eyes in the room now turned to him, and he noticed that the only things bigger than the look of

shock coming from surprised onlookers, were the looks of horror coming from the guards. After a minute he

had finished the last guard when he noticed Kuriza regaining consciousness, he got the cloak back on just in

time as Kuriza regained consciousness. "Kuriza looked up at the figure now standing in front of him, come

with me if you want to live, said the figure as he extended his hand towards him, Kuriza grabbed it,

unknowing that he had just changed his life forever.


	2. episode 2: revelations

2 hours after "prologue"

Kuriza was completely out of breath, he had never ran this far or fast for as long as he could remember, his father

didn't even make him work this hard. "Alright we should be safe inhere", said the cloaked figure with a breath of

relief. Now that they had finally stopped running Kuriza could look at the surroundings. They were in a cave made of

pure ice. Kuriza walked to the entrance and looked out of it. He marvelled at the sight, they were on a mountain

and surrounding the mountain of crystalline ice were the white plains shimmering like a star in the night. Kuriza

spotted a small lit up spherical shape the otherwise empty area. He quickly realized that he was looking at the city

dome. It was created long ago as the capital of his home, however, because of the hostile environment it had a

terrasphere placed over it, allowing others to survive in the harsh climate. Which is also why they hadn't

been caught. Due to the planet's harsh environment and the amount of security protocol's that had been

implemented to prevent any trace of the outside getting in, it takes an hour to send out one exploration rover, as

such when Kuriza scanned the terrain for the rovers he was not disappointed to find only two. Kuriza went back

into the cave to find that the figure was setting up a shelter dome. "Hi"said the figure. "Listen kid I'm sorry we got

off on the wrong foot, I didn't recognize you, allow me to show you who I am, as a token of my trust in you". Kuriza

was wondering who he was for a while now and was glad that he was finally learning more about him. When the

cloaked figure finally discarded his cloak Kuriza was surprized to find one of his own people standing in front of him.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Froze". Thus he started to explain his story to Kuriza. "So you probably

got a lot of questions, allow me to explain". "I was the son of a great princess among our people, her name was

Celsea". Kuriza was surprised to hear that name, "but my father said that Celsea was" Froze interrupted Kuriza mid

sentence, "your father is correct". "You see, my father died in an engagement with a rival band of planet brokers

saving his best friend, and in her grief She was comforted by my fathers best friend". "They ended up marrying a

year after my fathers funeral". "My father's friend was known as Cold". Kuriza was visibly shocked by this

revelation."And so you see your grandmother was my mother, and your father my brother, in fact their were only

two reasons why it was your father who ruled and not me", Kuriza listened intently, after all his father was the lord,

what could this simple foot soldier who constantly sullied his hands with grunt work. "You see I was born with a

rare birth defect that partially merged my first form and my true form, therefore, although my natural power level

was increased far beyond our people's average power level, even putting me on par with your father, my inability

to use any other form means that I am still inferior, for even though I am older, stronger, faster, and smarter, If I for

some reason were to fight your father, if he powered up all the way to his true form he would wipe the floor with

me". "The second reason however is not nearly as simple". "You see, in order for our race to produce a

superior offspring they must take part in a ritual that is only permitted among royalty, or in a very special exception,

extremely high-ranking military officers, and even then at least one of the parents must be royalty". "Anyway

through this ritual a person who is extremely close to the child's parents may infuse the unborn child with their own

ki, this also causes a bought 2% of their DNA to merge with the unborn child, thus the participant becomes a

third parent". "This also causes the third parent and the child to gain a spiritual link". "In my case the third parent

was your grandfather king Cold". "This is also why Cold believed that although I am the eldest son, although I have

logged three times the amount of combat training that your father has, even though I was taught by some of the

greatest military minds of their generations, even though your father is clearly nothing more than a sadistic

psychopath who only enjoys the pain of others or people groveling at his feet, who is even more spoiled-than" he

stopped talking, Kuriza noticed that his hand was bleeding, his fists clenched so hard that his nails had dug into his

flesh, I cannot rule". He walked away for a moment, getting a medical kit for his hand. "This is because if I ruled

then odds are my siblings would want to destroy me, so that they could gain power". "Anyway a side effect of the

bonding is that if I die, the link will shatter, which unless was due to natural circumstance could lead to the demise

of the other, this is among one of the reasons that I found you". "However another side effect is that it allows some

contact between the spirits of the bonded, this is how I found you. And with that Froze ended the conversation an

d walked to the other end of the cave,where Kuriza could see a medical kit as well as some supply crates. Kuriza

was deeply shocked as well as confused at these revelations. All this time his father had never even mentioned any

of this to him,in fact unless he was teaching him lessons that would one day prove invaluable to him, his father

never really spent any time with him, and what did Froze mean when he said that his father was a psychopath,

sure he never tried to hide the fact that their lifestyle was sustained through conquest, but at no time did he ever

act like how Froze described him, surely Froze had been overreacting. Kuriza was really starting to question himself

about what he truly knew when Froze came back carrying the tray from earlier. "You remember when we were on

the ship, well that wasn't my only cider bottle",he said in a friendly voice,a stark contrast to the voice of his father

which was always on a threatening tone. "I ordered about three as I was originally planning on sharing a bottle with you

and your dad during the recognition after party,anyway how about we have ourselves a drink". He then

proceeded to pour them both a cup of the red-blue liquid. As he drank his cup down he noticed that Kuriza hadn't

even touched it. "Come on, drink up, if you don't want it I' ll just pour it back in the container". Kuriza still didn't

move,inside his mind however he was shocked that he had gone out of his way to give him some of the extremely

expensive liquid, even after what he did with the first one, he had simply done an act of kindness to Kuriza. Nobody

had ever done something like that for him before simply because they thought it was nice, in fact, for as long as he

could remember nobody had done something like this simply because they wanted to, not even his own father. And

it caused a single tear to go down his face. Froze noticed it when he realised something he had forgotten to

mention before. I can't believe I forgot about him, he thought with a dash of frustration. "Kuriza quickly, he said in a

voice of pure urgency, would you have happened to make the acquaintance of a member of our species roughly

your age, his name is". No sooner had he tried to tell Kuriza that piece of information when the mountain had been

hit by a death ball, the likes of which Froze recognized. Kuriza looked around as the mountain was collapsing under

its own weight due to the big hole in its center, in fact Kuriza was surprised that the mountain was still there. Froze

quickly grabbed Kuriza as he jumped out of an opening he had created via ki blast. When they hit the ground Kuriza

was dazed, his head spinning, his vision foggy. But when he finally came to he looked up at the imposing figure in

front of him. Kuriza is that you, it has been a while", said the imposing figure of Cooler standing in front of him.

This chapter is dedicated to my friend Cory, who has given this series renew life, as well as new purpose.


	3. episode three: the sacrifice

Kuriza looked at the imposing figure of his uncle, confused about his presence. "Uncle Cooler"

said Kuriza in a tone that clearly conveyed the confusion he felt, "but I thought you wouldn't

be here for another four hours". "Plans changed"said Cooler, "your father is unable to attend,

you see he is on route to the planet Namek so he can claim the legendary

dragonball's", and so i am to take his place". Kuriza was upset to say the least that his father

wouldn't be attending the most important ceremony of his life, however he then

remembered the fact that Cooler had thrown a death ball at him. "In that case why did you

throw a death ball at us" said Kuriza with an air of suspicion. " Because I was not aware of

your presence, Cooler replied, I was tracking an old enemy of mine, infant I thought you had

gone with the escort I had sent you, and as your father would no doubt understand it was

nothing pers-" Cooler never finished his sentence, a beam of energy had hit him in the

chest, sending him flying. Kuriza turned his head, and looked into the eyes of Froze. "Run

Kuriza , get out of here," . Kuriza replied, " but where do I go", he said. "I have a contact in the

city, I'll see you there". "But what if something goes wrong",said Kuriza, "what if I don't know

what to do, what if I need you and you're not there". "Don't worry Kuriza", said Froze, no

matter what I'll always be there for you" he said with a slight amount of sadness , now run.

He turned his head to see Cooler climb out of the side of the mountain, " well it's a bought

time you got the courage to face me head on brother, to be honest I thought this time could

never come where you finally lost your sanity, I mean, you were always the most stable".

Froze's response was quick, " This is because I know that you will win, I know that I will die,

and I can accept this, but I would sooner stand in the presence of the dark one himself than

let you take another one from me"! Oh please don't tell me your still upset about that, I

merely saw potential in him", Cooler replied. "you took him away from him, twisted him,

changed him, to the point that when I finally found him he wouldnt even recognize me, his

own father"! "Well if it makes you feel any better he came with me, you see it's his day of

recognition too, so feel free to talk to him, if you survive". "Enough talk Cooler, let us finish

this", Froze finished as he prepared another blast." Salic Spear", he yelled as he unleashed

his most powerful attack. Cooler simply let him hit him, the blast causing a crater to form

around him. Froze let a brief surge of hope flow through him, before he saw something that

caused all hope to fade from him as he gazed upon Cooler's final form. " Nice shot, he said, I

think you broke a couple of ribs, now lets see how you fare",Cooler sent a blast of energy

Froze's way. Froze barely dodged the blast, clutching his now shrapnel filled ribs. Froze

charged at Cooler, delivering an uppercut to Cooler's jaw before delivering a kick in rapid

succession that sent Cooler flying and finished with a double punch to Coolers back. Cooler

crashed into the ground with enough force and velocity to create a crater. Froze then quickly

grabbed Cooler by the neck and threw him up in the air with enough force to shatter a

boulder, then flew upwards quickly. Cooler was still fairly dazed and confused when

he looked up to see Froze creating a death ball of immense proportion before throwing it

directly at the crater, increasing its size threefold. When Froze spotted Cooler climbing out

Froze flew full force down and smashed his elbow right into Coolers gut, Froze hearing the

ribs crack and shatter. Froze clearly exhausted flew away, resting,waiting for the next

Cooler recovered he looked at Froze with a glare that seemed to pierce his very

soul. " It's seem's that I've underestimated you brother, fear not, I shall soon rectify that

mistake". Cooler charged at Froze, Froze prepared a ki blast when Cooler disappeared, Froze

was confused about where he was when he realized his mistake. " I hope you are content"

said Cooler who was hovering above him, with a deathball twice the size of the previous one.

" You will never win Cooler, in death I will become an even greater threat than in life" said

Froze, "we will see" said Cooler, releasing the deathball, Froze didn't even try to dodge it, he

knew that he wouldn't get out of here alive. Cooler went down to the barely living Froze, "

it's good to see that your still alive, now I can prolong your suffering " said Cooler while flying

upwards. "enjoy the vast solitude of space" said Cooler. "you will never win Cooler, i will be

back, I don't know in what shape or form, but I will be back, and I will make you pay". "We

shall see" said Cooler,throwing Froze into the depth's of space with all his might. Cooler took

in the moment, the satisfaction of finally removing the most annoying thorn in his side. He

flew down and found a crate belonging to his vanquished foe. He looked through it,

searching for any clues to what he was planing to do with Kuriza. After a few minutes his

search yielded nothing except a bottle labeled Kuriza,_well what type of man would I be if I didn't_

_return this to its rightful owner_, he thought when an amusing idea came to his head. And

with that he grinned as he headed back to the city, bottle in hand. He also found a note there,

it read : Cooler, if your reading this then you know as well as I do to leave Kuriza alone, for if I

do not get retribution on you, then his father will. _If he ever knew why I came here, then he_

_wouldn't have even bothered writing that note,_ thought Cooler, ready to launch his plan into

motion.


End file.
